Originally written as a “ballet chanté,” or sung ballet, the provocative story premiered in Paris in 1933, marking the final collaboration between the composer-lyricist team, both of whom fled Nazi Germany at the time of Hitler’s rise. The piece, featuring choreography by George Balanchine, follows two sisters, who represent two sides of one self, as they embark on a seven-city pursuit of the American dream, encountering seven sins along the way.

Anna I, a sensible singer, is the dominant personality, reprimanding the sultry dancer Anna II for engaging in any behavior that might prove disadvantageous to her ultimate responsibility — earning money to send to her greedy, poverty-stricken family so they can build a small home on the banks of the Mississippi.

“The Seven Deadly Sins”

When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana

Details: $25-$125; 713-224-7575, houstonsymphony.org

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Large debuted the split-personality role in 2013. Initially, however, it didn’t quite resonate with her.

“When I first heard the piece, I didn’t really like it,” Large said. “I’m a super-emotional, loud, performative, dramatic, theatrical singer, and I love a lot of melody and a lot of excitement, a lot of emotion. This is a very dry, narrative piece.”

But as she delved further into the theatricality of the story, she empathized with the character of Anna II and her taxing showgirl lifestyle, one that Large said is rather lonely at times. The abused personality simply wants to live and love freely but is pressured into submission by the opportunistic Anna I. The latter urges her beautiful “sister” to sell her body for money for it would be a sin of pride if she didn’t, Large explained.

“To do anything honestly as a performer, you have to relate to who you’re portraying and attach personal meaning to what you’re doing,” she said. “If you don’t believe it and you’re not in it absolutely neck deep, you’re not going to really sell it.”

Sell it she does. Once Hudson Shad, a quartet representing the family, sits down, Large appears onstage as if she were walking into a bar. Clad in a long overcoat, she pours herself a drink and begins to tell her story through cabaret-type songs. Before long, she is sensuously shimmying her shoulders and rocking her hips side to side as she unbuttons her jacket to unveil a seductive black dress with a deep V-neck and an open back, revealing Large’s tattoo that says “Lover.”

A breakdown is imminent toward the end of the piece when the two personae begin to meld into one — an apex moment that Storm describes as quite agonizing. “I want to burn all my skin off,” she said of her character’s innermost thoughts at the height of her psychotic episode. “It gets really scary, but I love it. I get chills thinking about it.”

Anna’s mental instability is not the only alarming aspect of the show. Set in 1920s America, the text is critical of a capitalist society that exploits the individual. Brecht, a hardcore Marxist, disliked everything about the country, while Weill appreciated its ideals of artistic and personal freedom. It’s an interesting combination — Weill’s passion for the land of opportunity and Brecht’s contempt, said Large, who finds a frightening correlation between the social and political unrest in the pre-World War II era, when the show was created, and today.

“It was just a terrifying time just like now, so when I perform it, it’s scary. You can hear the drums of war underneath everything, the tension,” she said. “It’s this really dark (expletive) story.”